Nilotinib after imatinib first‐line: a real‐life longitudinal cohort of patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia in chronic phase

Abstract

This prospective, observational study enrolled 150 adult patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) in chronic phase (CP) treated with nilotinib as second-line after imatinib, in a real life setting in France. Two-thirds of patients switched to nilotinib treatment due to lack of imatinib efficacy. Of 146 evaluable patients, 16 (11·0%) (95% confidence interval: 6·4-17·2%) achieved uMR4 , defined as undetectable molecular disease in cDNA with MR4 sensitivity (≥10000 ABL1 transcripts) at 18months and confirmed at 24months (primary endpoint). Among patients without major molecular response (MMR) or deep molecular response (DMR) at study entry, 66·3% achieved MMR and 44·2% DMR within a median of 5·7 and 6·24months, respectively. Fifty-three patients (36·3%) have prematurely terminated the study before 24months of follow-up, primarily due to nilotinib treatment discontinuation (n=43; 29·5%), mainly motivated by treatment intolerance (n=27; 18·5%) and inefficacy (n=10; 6·8%). The most frequent extra-haematological adverse events (AEs) reported as related to treatment with nilotinib were pruritus (16·4%), asthenia (13·7%) and dry skin (13·0%). Ischaemic cardiovascular AEs were reported in 18 patients (12·3%). This French nationwide large cohort adds valuable information to the body of evidence on the efficiency and safety of nilotinib in the treatment of patients with CP-CML.